Carcinoma of the prostate increasingly dominates the attention of urologists for both scientific and clinical reasons. The search for an explanation and the prediction of the variable behaviour of the malignant prostatic cell continues unabated. The search for more precise tumour staging and more effective treatment is equally vigorous. Editors Andrew Bruce and John Trachtenberg have assembled acknowledged leaders in prostate cancer to present those areas of direct interest to the clinician. There are a number of other topics that might have been considered but most of these, such as experimental tumour models or biochemical factors affecting cell growth, still lack immediate application for the clinician. Carcinoma of the prostate continues to have its highest incidence in the western world, and the difference in comparison with the incidence in the Far East appears to be real and not masked by diagnostic or other factors. A number of other epidemiological aspects need careful analysis: Is the incidence increasing? Is the survival improving? Is the prognosis worse in the younger patient? Epidemiological data are easily misused and misinterpreted so that a precise analysis of the known facts makes an important opening chapter to this book.

Klappentext

This book is the latest volume in the "Clinical Practice in Urology" series and is divided into two sections. The first deals with recent important advances in basic sciences as they relate to prostatic cancer. A fundamental view of the immense scope of this problem is presented in the introductory chapter, which explores the epidemiology of the disease. Histologic grading methods are presented. The clinical methods of staging this neoplasm are reviewed and updated, and special emphasis is given to the new advances available in imaging technology. Other chapters address the factors that should improve clinicians' ability to detect those patients at high risk of developing the disease and those patients who are likely to be treatment failures. The second section of the book deals with the specific problems of treating the patient in each stage of the disease: from small volume localized disease to disseminated hormone-resistant patterns. The authors have attempted to summarize the present controversies within their own areas of interest, to explain and support their approach to the problem, and finally to predict what research developments are likely to have an impact on disease detection and management in the future.

Inhalt
1 Epidemiology.- 2 Grading of Prostatic CarcinomasCurrent Status.- 3 Tumor Markers in Prostatic Disease.- 4 Hormone Receptors in Prostatic Cancer.- 5 Imaging Techniques in the Diagnosis and Pelvic Staging of Prostatic Cancer.- 6 Update in Staging Systems.- 7 Pelvic Lymph Nodes: Diagnosis and Significance.- 8 Management of Localized Adenocarcinoma of the Prostate.- 9 Interstitial Radiotherapy.- 10 The Case for External Beam Radiotherapy of Certain Adenocarcinomas of the Prostate.- 11 Hormonal Therapy in Metastatic Prostatic Cancer.- 12 Chemotherapy of Prostatic Cancer.- 13 Clinical Trials in Prostatic Cancer: Methodology and Controversies.